Identifying the cosmic system, part 4; John 15:19.Title: Identifying the cosmic system, part 4; John 15:19.
The kosmos is an evolving system with a singular goal of reconciling all men to each other in prosperity in the complete absence of God.
I say evolving since as the system fails to achieve its goal it changes in certain societies. Our society has moved from a free-market, limited government to a progressive type of society with some founding features, to an entitlement society that is trending more liberal. The progressives of the past change some tactics and become more liberal, conservatives become more progressive, and ideologies evolve as people resist or accept the system. In every generation there are more or less people who resist the system. Even in our Lord’s incarnation there were many in Israel who believed in Him, even Pharisees, but there was not enough to bring in the kingdom. History is re-written, or in certain cases not even taught in order to cover these pockets of resistance.
Yet the divine view of the kosmos system does not change:
Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
Rom 3:10 as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one;
Rom 3:11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
Rom 3:12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one."
Rom 3:13 "Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips";
Rom 3:14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness";
Rom 3:15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood,
Rom 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
Rom 3:17 And the path of peace have they not known."
Rom 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Yet the world cosmos, academia, government and various institutions including the media at times promote a rosey outlook for the future of mankind under this system. This was true at the turn of the 19th century.
As Lord Acton, editor of The Cambridge Modern History, remarked in 1896, “Ultimate history we cannot have in this generation; but . . . all information is within reach, and every problem has become capable of solution.”
Such was the positivist view at the turn of the century: that all of humankind’s problems could and would be solved, and that human history was an unfolding story of people’s upward climb toward a glorious destiny. Science, history, archeology, mathematics, philosophy from the Enlightenment were all coming together and no doubt, soon, we would solve all of man’s problems.
Events in the first decades of the twentieth century shattered such a positive outlook. The First World War (ironically referred to as “the war to end all wars”) and its even more destructive successor vividly displayed the shocking depths to which even modern, enlightened people could sink. The intellectual community lost confidence in human powers of reason and in former understandings of human destiny.
As twentieth-century historians sought to find meaning and purpose in history, they couldn’t resort to an appeal to divine purpose or providence; nineteenth-century thinkers had already ejected the concept of God from Western intellectual circles. Neither could they now appeal to humankind’s ability to advance positively, given their recent loss of confidence in human progress. As American historian Henry S. Commager remarked,
In a general way it could be said that the two generations after 1890 witnessed a transition from certainty to uncertainty, from faith to doubt, from security to insecurity, from seeming order to ostentatious disorder. By the 1950’s Americans had all but banished God from their affairs. Who or what would they put in his place? (Henry S. Commager)\ American historian
Chafer: They [apathetic Christian], as are all the world, being under the delusion of Satan’s deception, are unaware of the revelation which the word cosmos conveys. (L.S. Chafer)
As the general populace of the client nation removes all causality of God from life then what is to replace Him? Satan has a few substitutes that won’t work. As the general populace of born again believers abandon sound doctrine and grace from Christianity, what is to replace grace and doctrine? Satan has a few substitutes that won’t work. These are the themes of the cosmos that go unnoticed for anyone who doesn’t plug with sound doctrine.
The darkness of the cosmos is implied when Christ said, John 12:46 “I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”
Thus, likewise, it is promised of the Spirit that He would, John 16:8 “And He, when He comes, will convict [reprove] the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;”
To the believer it is said, John 16:33 “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Christ describes Himself as of no relation to the world, John 17:14 they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
In relation to the Father the world is ignorant of Him, John 17:25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee”
In relation to Christ’s kingdom, John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.”
Certain other short phrases are most expressive of what the world is:
Rom 5:12 sin entered into the world,
Rom 3:19 all the world may become accountable to God;
1 Cor 1:21 the world through its wisdom did not come to know God,
1 Cor 5:10 the immoral people of this world,
1 Cor 11:32 condemned along with the world
Eph 2:12 without God in the world.
James 1:27 keep oneself unstained by the world.
2 Peter 1:4 the corruption that is in the world by lust.
2 Peter 2:20 the defilements of the world
So the Bible describes the world as: Having sin, judged by God, does not know God, immoral people, condemned, without God, stained, corrupt, defiled, dark, convicted by the Spirit, tribulation for positive believers, no relation to Christ, ignorant of the Father, does not contain the kingdom of Christ.
Joseph Campbell’s very popular PBS series The Power of Myth presents us with a view that all religions are essentially the same, if we understand them properly.
The person who thinks he has found the ultimate truth is wrong. There is an often-quoted verse in Sanskrit, which appears in the Chinese Tao-te Ching [6 c. BC text] as well: “He who thinks he knows, doesn’t know. He who knows that he doesn’t know, knows. For in this context, to know is not to know. And not to know is to know.”
The cosmos is a vast order or system that Satan has promoted, which conforms to his ideals, aims, and methods.
The cosmos is civilization now functioning apart from God—a civilization in which none of its promoters really expect God to share, who assign to God no consideration in respect to their projects; nor do they ascribe any causativity to Him.
Evolution, pantheism, communism, socialism, nationalism, cults, religions, legalistic protestant and Catholic movements, liberal education, media outlets that promote it all, redistribution of wealth, welfare state, multiculturalism, united nations, violence, murder, hatred, favoritism, pride, arrogance, lust, selfishness, untruths, and ungrace; are just a sampling of the harm that the system has done to the human race.
It is the cosmos diabolicus.
Human beings resist it in certain percentages in every generation so then satan adjusts to deceive and delude more.
In the parable of the sower the first example of seed: /Luke 8:12 And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.\
He distracts, deceives, and sows doubt so that they may not believe in Christ as Savior, notice that it doesn’t say that they cannot believe.
Divine establishment is a haven for the unbeliever, but does not shield them from the effects of the kosmos. However, divine establishment is not a haven for the believer. The only haven for the believer is the PPOG.
In great contrast to the world hating Christ we read that God so loved the world. Yet here He does not mean the satanic system but the people that are in it. These are the same that are capable of love and hate, but by not being set free by faith in the work of Christ they love and hate the wrong things and thusly they remain deluded and deceived.
2 Cor 3:15-16 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Yet their deception does not nullify the love of God.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
It is also true that the spiritual Christian will experience this divine compassion for the lost people in the cosmos in so far as, by the Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in his heart, Rom 5:5.
Rom 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
It is significant that of the 187 uses of cosmos in the New Testament, Christ employed the term more than all others together. The word occurs 68 times in John’s Gospel.
Christ used the word cosmos 41 times in His Upper Room Discourse and 19 times in His priestly prayer as recorded in John, chapter 17. It is as though the reality of the essential character of the cosmos is made emphatic in ratio to the exalted point from which it is viewed and by the holy character of the One who views it.
If, as has been suggested, the Upper Room Discourse corresponds to the holy place in the temple and the priestly prayer to the holy of holies, it is not only noticeable that the Holy One is conscious of the real meaning of the word cosmos, but:
As the revelation of truth given by Christ during His incarnation is intensified, the disclosures concerning the opposing satanic system are multiplied. [ “cosmos” used 41 times in Upper Room and 19 times in priestly prayer]
If Israel hadn’t resisted Christ as Savior then the kingdom of God would have quickly followed the cross, but since the report on Israel was complete:
John 12:38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
The report meant that the 490 years given to Israel would be interrupted and the Church-age inserted. What we don’t often think about when looking at the intercalation of the CA is that the cosmos system was also extended.
In light of this truth and the extension of the cosmos system the Lord in the upper room and in His prayer reveals the mystery doctrine for the first time as well as drastically ramping up His teaching on the cosmos. (41 times in the upper room and 19 times in the prayer ... only recorded by John) God is always preparing us for what is to come.
To Christians who are taught of God and who, to some extent, have the mind of Christ, the cosmos diabolicus should appear in its essential, evil character to be the outworking of that lie which moves in independence of God and is opposed to the purposes of God. The whole truth regarding the nature and extent of this satanic cosmos or system, is found in the Scriptures wherein this system is mentioned.
Satan will do everything in his power to stop anyone from understanding what the cosmos really is and the extent of his power over it.
Luke 4:5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luke 4:6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
Luke 4:7 "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.
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